Sporting legend encourages kids to be active

A group of very lucky school students got the opportunity to pick up some tips from one of the world’s greatest sporting stars, Lord Sebastian Coe.

The students aged 7 to 12 years were taking part in the IAAF Nestlé Healthy Kids Athletic Programme in New Zealand earlier this month.

The Olympic Gold medallist in track and field and former chair of the London Olympic and Paralympic Organisation committee watched the students go through a variety of sporting activities at the IAAF Nestlé Healthy Kids Athletics event.

Lord Coe believes making athletics relevant to young people will help them ‘fall in love with the sport again.’

“It’s the sports responsibility to explain much more about athletics and maybe for younger people, that athletics contains all the physical literacies that you’re going to need in virtually any sport barring swimming – unless it goes horribly wrong in the steeple chase.”

At the event attended by the New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr John Key and the country’s Minister for Sport, Mr Jonathon Coleman, the students also got the chance to learn about healthy eating, food portions and took home the Nestlé Be Healthy Be Active booklet and Athletics Activity sheet.